Things to consider when diamond engagement ring shopping

So the time has come to bend the knee… how do you know you’re buying the best thing for your fiance to be? There are a few things to consider when you go diamond engagement ring shopping.

Things to consider when diamond engagement ring shopping

Let’s face it, proposing is enough stress as it is. Now you have to go diamond engagement ring shopping, which really hasn’t been on the radar until now. It’s such a big purchase, where do you even begin to look?

How do you know you’re making the right choice? You’re not alone if these things are racing through your head at the thought of looking for a diamond engagement ring. But don’t despair, we’re here to demystify the diamond buying experience.

First off, it’s important to compare apples with apples and the only way to do this is to have all the information in front of you. The biggest portion of your spend should be going into the main diamond – if you’re spending more money on the ring itself with the smaller diamonds, the value of the piece is unbalanced.

To make sure you are getting the best value, find out exactly what you’re spending your hard-earned money on. And this ultimately means having an independent laboratory certified diamond. Diamonds under 0.20 ct won’t have certificates because the cost of the certification will outweigh the cost of the small diamond itself. But anything over 0.20 ct should come certified.

What a basic laboratory certificate will tell you is the cut (shape), carat (weight), colour and clarity, which ultimately dictates the price. More in-depth certificates may have extra information, such as the cut grade, symmetry, polish and fluorescence of the diamond. Now if this is all sounding Greek, don’t worry, they aren’t huge factors in regards to the price, but if you do want to read up more on these, head to our Diamond Education page.

Cut

The real factors affecting the price are the 4 Cs. The simplest being cut, which is the shape of the diamond. How does this affect the price? Round brilliant cuts are the most popular shape and the easiest to compare because they have set parameters. A circle has to be round or it’s not a circle, right?

But an oval can be long and thin or short and fat, etc. So this makes round brilliant cut diamonds more expensive than their fancy shape counterparts. (Fancy shapes just refers to any shape that isn’t a round) But… there’s a catch. Because rounds are the most popular, it means that more round diamonds are cut and sold than any other shape, which means that if you’re after a fancy shape, there will be fewer options to choose from.

This may mean that you pay a slight premium on fancy shapes that are harder to find but, in general, you should always be paying less for fancy shaped diamonds than for rounds.

Carat

The second most important factor, in terms of pricing, is the carat weight (size of the diamond). So in order to understand the pricing, you need to compare the certificates to see how the diamonds are different and why this makes them less or more expensive.

Now, this might sound fairly obvious, but many jewellery stores will just quote you on the complete piece without a breakdown or the mysterious “total carat weight”, which is very ambiguous.

For example, your significant other likes a halo design, which means a larger centre stone surrounded by smaller ones to create the illusion of one large diamond cluster. Now you’ve been quoted X amount for a 1 ct diamond ring. Sounds good? But there is no breakdown, so are you getting a 0.90 ct centre diamond with 10 x 0.01 ct smaller diamonds or are you getting a 0.50 ct centre with 20 x 0.025 ct smaller diamonds?

This is hugely important – you need to know what your main stone is and how much you are paying for it because option 1 has far more value than option 2, even though the total weight is the same. Again, the majority of your spend should go towards the main stone and not the smalls, so insist on getting a breakdown on carat weight so that you can really see where the bulk of the cost is sitting.

Better yet is to choose a loose diamond that speaks to you and then design the ring around that. This way you know exactly what value you are getting.

Colour and clarity

Now if you’re trying to figure out which of these is most important, the overwhelming response would be colour. To most buyers, it makes sense to have a whiter stone than one with fewer inclusions. Having said this, there are some tricks which help you get away with a lower colour.

The first being the colour of the metal, if you are going for yellow gold or rose gold, a lower colour Diamond will appear whiter in the setting. Another is adding extra sparkle with smaller diamonds – here make sure the colour of the smaller diamonds matches the main stone. If the smaller ones are whiter, it will make the centre diamond appear more yellow.

The basic rule with clarity is that as long as you don’t see lots of ugly black spots with the naked eye, it’s not as important a factor. If you can see the inclusions under magnification or a zoomed-in video but you can’t see it in natural light with the naked eye, then you’re good to go!

In Summary

So to sum it up, if you’re confused about where to start on a diamond engagement ring, we’d say put the diamonds and their certificates side by side and see what matters most to you – if it’s size, make sure that if you want a half a carat that the main diamond is 0.50 ct and not the total weight of all the diamonds combined.

If it’s colour, consider the setting and the colour of the gold it’s going in to. If it’s clarity, make sure you can’t see any inclusions with the naked eye. The Night Sky diamond search will allow you to search for various options in your price range so that you can compare the size/colour/clarity and make an informed decision on what diamond suits you best.

Visit the GIA for more in-depth information on diamond quality factors.